Oceanside hopes to remove relocatable school buildings

OCEANSIDE —— Things could get a little cramped on campuses next
year if the Oceanside Unified School District returns as many as
half of its leased portable buildings and trailers to help save
money.

During enrollment spikes over the last two decades, the district
has leased trailers and other "emergency" portable buildings from
the state to add much-needed classrooms without spending money on
new buildings.

But with the district's enrollment declining steadily over the
last four years, schools have not needed the additional classrooms
and have put the extra space to other uses, according to Associate
Superintendent Robyn Phillips.

Teachers now use the portable buildings as closets for books and
paper, as lounges for coffee and small talk, and as workrooms for
making photocopies and stapling together homework assignments.

The district rents 153 such relocatable buildings from the state
for roughly $1 million, she said.

"Now as we see our enrollment dropping, we'd like to be able to
return some of these trailers and terminate our leases," she
said.

"There's no such thing as an empty classroom at our campuses,"
she said. "(The portable buildings) are all being used. We have to
look real hard to see which ones we need just for classroom
space."

Phillips and other school officials will begin visiting campuses
in the upcoming weeks to see if the district can do without as many
as half of the leased buildings to save about $500,000.

"We may be too optimistic in trying to get rid of half," she
said. "That's a rough target, but we'll see, school by school, what
the needs are."

According to a district report released in 2004, roughly 20
percent of the district's students attend classes in a trailer or
portable building. Trailers and portable buildings, depending on
the size, typically house one to four classrooms.

A puzzle piece of reductions

The savings from removing half of the district's leased
buildings will make up 10 percent of the $5 million in cuts the
district plans to make in the next two years.

District officials have estimated that they need to cut $5
million from this year's $160 million budget to handle rising costs
—— such as health care —— and falling enrollment, which results in
less per-student funding from the state. Last year, the district
spent $152 million.

This year, the district has seen its enrollment drop by about
650 students, and officials are expecting to see a continued
decline of 250 students each year for the next five years.

About two-thirds of the district's state funding is allocated on
a per-student basis at the rate of $5,000 for each student
annually, based on average daily attendance.

Officials said the district should prepare for about $2.5
million less in per-student funding from the state next year and
beyond because of the decline in enrollment.

While next year's spending plan is still in the works, and the
district has not released a budget figure, officials are counting
on less money starting July 1.

In addition to making fewer lease payments to the state for
relocatable buildings, the district is also proposing to eliminate
teaching positions via retirements and layoffs, reduce office staff
at local schools and at the district office, and make changes to
class-size reduction for kindergarten students.

Each proposed money-saving option has its pitfalls and
opposition, officials have said.

But few in the past have grumbled about removing the relocatable
buildings. And not many are grumbling now about losing extra space
on campuses.

In with the new

Getting rid of leak-prone, poorly ventilated trailers at local
campuses was one of the major selling points for voters who
approved a $125 million school construction bond in 2000.

In addition to fixing new campuses, the then-growing district
also promised voters that up to five new schools could be
constructed to ease overcrowding and remove portable buildings.

So far one new school has come on board, Nichols Elementary in
2002. And modernization and expansions at existing schools have
been more forthcoming.

Campuses such as Laurel Elementary, once blemished with clusters
of relocatable buildings, have since been modernized and expanded.
Other schools —— such as El Camino High, which will be holding
classes in a new two-story science building starting in August ——
will soon see the day the portable buildings will be towed off
campus.

Still other campuses, such as Reynolds and Del Rio elementary
schools, will rely on portables for classrooms while administrators
wait for the district's bond dollars to pay for needed
expansions.

The problem is some of those schools do not use all of their
portable buildings and trailers as classrooms. Some relocatable
buildings at several local schools districtwide are instead used as
teacher workrooms and lounges.

While the district has decided which school will lose buildings
next year, it will be looking closely at campuses where the leased
buildings may not be used just for teaching.

Shifting things around

Reynolds Elementary is one school that relies on relocatable
buildings to house students. But one trailer on the campus serves
as a workroom, where teachers photocopy worksheets to supplement
lessons and store extra books that instructors typically share.

Inside the trailer are a copying machine, several storage
cabinets, bookshelves, and a table for teachers to prepare
lessons.

Could the school do without the room?

Sure, said Principal Lois Grazioli. But not preferably, she
added.

"We're very sensitive to the issue with the budget, so we have
to prioritize our needs just like the district has to prioritize
its needs," she said.

Grazioli said she could move equipment to other spots of the
school and make room somewhere else on campus for the copier and
storage. I wouldn't be as organized —— all in one teacher workroom
—— but the school would survive, she said.

"It is a room that is used daily," she said. "It's not a
preference to get rid of it. But we would be able to accommodate
the change."